1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electronic circuits and, more specifically, to systems and methods relating to providing simple efficient cost effective assembly and packaging of electronic circuits, that may be used with, for example, cryogenically cooled electronic circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
The past few decades have seen considerable advancement in electronics and communication technologies, including wireless communications. The continued development and advancement of more highly dense integrated circuits at low cost has enabled a large range of types of electronic devices to be developed. For example, many devices have been developed that include wireless communication capabilities. Mobile devices having wireless capability include, for example, mobile telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, global position sensor (GPS) devices, etc. Many of these devices operate in the radio frequency (RF) and microwave wireless signal frequency ranges.
Further, many of the electronic devices built today include integrated circuits or chips (typically planar devices such as semiconductor or superconductor chips) that often require assembly into packages. High production volume motivates improved efficiency in the speed of assembly of the electronic circuits onto circuit boards, into packages, and/or into housings, so as to improve ease of assembly and reduced complexity and cost. However, this must be achieved without generally degrading the electric performance, physical characteristics, and/or thermal characteristics of the devices. Some electronic circuits operate at high speeds and draw significant current that translates into heat. Some of the electronic devices may be operated at extremely low temperatures, such as superconductor electronic components. In either case, the electronic devices may need to be mounted on a heat sink so that the operating temperature of the electronic devices may be effectively maintained in a desired range for proper electrical operation. This heat sink may be an integral part of the housing and upon which the electronic devices may be mounted. In addition, the connection between the planar devices, e.g., integrated circuit and heat sink, may also operate as an electrical ground. Therefore, efficient coupling or connecting of these electronic devices to the heat sink can be important to achieving the desired operating temperature and electrical performance of the devices so as to obtain proper continuous operation of the electronic device.
The electronics for communicating at high frequencies, for example, RF and microwave frequency, requires transmitters and receivers that may include electric signal filters, low noise amplifiers (LNAs), and connectors and/or cabling that may be susceptible to malfunction due to noise interference and/or poor connections. For some RF and microwave applications, such as in cellular telephone base station receivers and transmitters, high performance planar filters, for example high temperature superconductor filters (HTS), have been developed to provide extremely accurate filtering to improve the quality of wireless communications, particularly in areas having a high density of wireless devices or where the RF or microwave signals may not propagate well. In the case of superconductor electronic devices, the electronic components will be operated at very cold temperatures, and the electronic devices such as the signal filters and/or LNA may be contained in a housing or dewar, and electrically coupled to the rest of the electronic devices via connection cables. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,304, that is hereby incorporated herein by reference.) The connection cables will need to have low electrical loss (good conductivity and connections), high thermal resistance, and good isolation for proper operation of the filter and/or amplifier. In case of HTS applications the connection cable(s) may be referred to as cryocable(s).
Further, the number of parts and complexity of assembly may be great due to the various requirements of the electronic system. For example, numerous screws and taped holes may be included to attach the various electronic components to one or more housings.
Some exemplary cryogenically cooled HTS filter and LNA systems used in telecommunications are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,488,382 and 6,662,029, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention provided below includes a number of approaches to designing the packaging and interconnecting of electronic circuits for a more efficient and cost effective system and method of manufacturing electronic circuit assemblies. These approaches may be particularly beneficial in cryo-cooled HTS systems for use in RF and microwave applications, such as wireless communications.